New Zealand Native Animals

Imagine Aotearoa New Zealand thousands of years ago and you’ll understand how native wildlife adapted to fill ecological niches across this beautiful whenua. Lush ngahere supported the rise of manu/birds, pekapeka/bats, pepeketua/frogs, pepeke/insects and mokomoko/lizard life. Our beaches and coastal areas are home to marine mammals like kororā/little penguins and kekeno/New Zealand fur seals.

Without any natural mammalian land predators, many of our birds became flightless, like the kākāpō, takahē, and iconic kiwi. We have unique animals that are found nowhere else in the world – more than 140 kinds of endemic lizards, and more than 90 endemic bird species.  

What is so unique about New Zealand wildlife?  

1. The ancient tuatara is the only survivor of its own reptile lineage that predates the dinosaurs.  
2. Most New Zealand lizards give birth to live young (all except one – the egg-laying skink).  
3. The kea is the world’s only true alpine parrot, found in Te Wai Pounamu/the South Island’s rugged mountain regions.  
4. The infamous mossy-green kākāpō use a polygynous "lek" mating system – the only bird in the world to do so.  
5. Kiwi are more mammal-like than bird-like! They rely on their sense of smell over their eyesight, and unlike the light-weight bones of most birds, these ground-dwellers have heavy marrow-filled bones

Our zookeepers and veterinary kaimahi/staff are involved in conservation breed-for-release and fieldwork programmes for so many of these precious taonga species. Dive deeper in these stories.